Author Archives: Big Kahuna

I had the Repi all prepped and ready for this year’s Friendship Ride… lines bled, parts lubed, and even some old parts replaced… followed up by a good scrub and polish. Well, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, and come Saturday morning the battery decided it was done. I guess nine years of starts was all it was able to take. Time was running out, didn’t know what to do. Should I continue on with the Repi, knowing that I would have to be push started after each stop and face the ridicule from all my battery tending friends? Oh, HELL NO!!!!

I quickly pulled the cover off Ol’ Yeller, dusted off the parts that were dusty. Wiped down all the gruff from the previous rides, checked the tire pressure and when I went to start it up… nothing. Damn, I had unplugged the tender to use for some other, at the time “necessary” electric device and forgot to plug it back in. No worries, I knew that the battery was good so with a quick jump from the wife’s car, we were on our way.

That’s right, no prep, no fancy new parts, no clean and polish, just wake up, shake the bugs off and go. I did require a little help on my first stop/start, but after the first leg Ol’ Yeller was starting and stopping like the best of them. Still had to endure a day of ridicule and jabs from the mob, but I held my head up high with the fact that my oldest, slowest, most outdated bike still took care of business. I just love this thing, and I’m probably the most comfortable on the bike after owning and riding it for the past 21 years.

Oh yeah, it was hot, Hot, HOT today! Spent Sunday night with old and new friends, BBQ Tri Tip and Chicken did not disappoint. We stayed up way to late and woke up to light sprinkles in the morning. Hard to believe as it was already well into the 70’s. 🙂

I really enjoyed the track today, spent my time working on controlling the throttle in corners, and still trying to get my butt off the seat. As the temps rose, it was clear that our time together was limited. After the lunch break it was just too dang hot to enjoy the track, so we all decided to pack it in and save it for a cooler day.

I’m going to have to keep my track time limited to Spring and Fall, as the Summer months are just too devastating. I’m going to try to get in a few more dates before the end of the year. Let’s Ride is such a great group to ride with, and I look forward to our next day together!

All packed up for another track day on Labor Day. I’m looking forward to a great ride, although the forecast is well over 100 degree temps on Monday. Still, always good times hanging out with friends and I’ve been missing my track time with Juicy.

I’ll primed and ready for this weekend’s festivities with SoCal Track Days at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Can’t wait to get back out on the track, spending two days at this open track day. New track for me, zero sessions, ride as much as I want.

Well, at least for this year. 🙂 Another great day at the track, the temperature was perfect and for the first time in recent years I was able to enjoy the day without rain, cold or blistering hot temps.

I was so happy to see Dave Moss there as I’ve been wanted to get his hands on Juicy to work out the kinks I’ve had since the git go. “Best 40 bucks you’ll spend on your bike”, so true. Dave is a genius at setting up bikes and after the first few session, he had the bike feeling so much better and I enjoyed the rest of the day working on the cornering tips he provided.

I’m quickly realizing that I need to work harder to get in better shape as these days really take their toll by the mid afternoon sessions. Over winter I’m going to increasing my cardio program so next year I’ll have more endurance throughout the day.

Although I’m not planning any more track days for 2017, I can’t wait to get back out there. I feel my progress has been slowed a bit as I adjust to the new bike, but with each new ride I feel more and more confident. Looking forward to working harder in 2018 and maybe finally getting that knee on the ground. 🙂

All packed up for another great day at Buttonwillow Raceway Park with Let’s Ride Track Days. My buddy with the motovan decided to take a snooze so I had to get my bike to the track on my own. No problem, with a long ramp, a tight grip on the bars, and a whole lot of prayers I got Juicy up into The Beast without breaking a sweat. Now that I know I can do this on my own, I see more track days in my future.